How are you doing in the 365 Items in 365 Days Declutter Challenge? It's the 332nd day of the year today so if you started in January, your target is to have purged 332 items by now. But don't worry if you've just started. Just jump in! Now is the perfect time to declutter with the holidays approaching so you'll be able to have guests over and enjoy time with family and friends.
{Stay tuned next week for an update on what's happening for the prize for this challenge!}
Today I'll be sharing what I've been decluttering since my last update. By doing these monthly updates I hope to give you ideas of things you can purge from your home.
I didn't write an update in October because I was busy with the 31 {Cheap & Easy} DIY Organizers series. So this update will cover two months.
Even though I didn't blog about decluttering in October, I still decluttered behind the scenes!
I worked on 3 main areas in the last 2 months:
- Our hall closet and our basement wardrobe with off season clothes as I switched from our summer/early fall gear to our winter gear
- Our garage
- My son's room and my daughter's room (both long overdue!)
There were also a few random items, but less than in some months.
Here's what left our home in October and November.
- 2 pairs of skates that my kids had outgrown
- 3 bikes that my kids had outgrown - we gave 2 of them to their cousins and Freecycled the other one.
- 2 mops, 1 broom, and 1 lawn chair (they've been in the corner of our garage for a long time waiting for me to do something with them... finally did!)
- 1 double stroller - I'm SO happy to finally have this out of our garage... we waited until after our Disney trip last spring because my daughter is NOT fan of walking and is more than happy to ride in a stroller (even though she was 7 at the time). It made those 2 weeks a lot more pleasant (plus we were able to take our own coolers with snacks, lunches, drinks, etc.). My daughter is doing better with walking further distances now so we gave this stroller away on Freecycle.
- 1 mirrored closet door (didn't take a pic)
- 1 Christmas tree stand, 1 hula hoop, 1 fondue set, 1 foam mat, 4 kids' chairs, 1 kids' bike helmet, 1 pair kids' knee pads, 1 pair kids' elbow pads, 1 umbrella stroller - I donated all these items except the helmet and the umbrella stroller (I Freecycled them)
- 2 flower pots
- 1 book, 1 set of picnic plates, 1 shirt, 1 video cleaning set (these were a few of the random items that found their way to a donation basket in our dining room)
- 1 bag of silly bands - talk about your crazy fad that disappeared quickly! My kids haven't touched these in ages but never wanted to purge them in other decluttering sessions. What changed this time? My daughter got into Rainbow Loom this fall and wanted a basket for her finished creations to live. Rather than adding a new storage item into her room I suggested using the basket her silly bands were in and she was more than happy purge her silly bands to make room for loom creations. It's all about finding the right motivation for kids isn't it?! Oh and my son decided to purge his after he found out his sister purged hers.
- Halloween items - 1 towel set, 1 potholder, 1 "slinky" pumpkin toy, 1 noisemaker, 2 sets of leaf bags, 1 sticker pad (items we were not being used any more)
- 1 very broken recycling bin - doesn't it look sad?! It served us well for many years :) Once even the duct tape couldn't hold it together it became kind of garage bucket for any use for awhile but mostly it was just in the way. We tried several times over the last few years to throw it out at the curb and they wouldn't take it. So it sat in our garage for a few years. I knew where we could exchange it but we didn't need a new one because we have enough recycle bins already. I finally researched how to dispose of a broken recycling bin in our city and found a place that took them. So I took it there last month. Feels great to have that out of our garage finally. Lesson learned. Do your research when you want to dispose of something!
- 3 bags of coats, hats, mittens, scarves, and boots (not sure how many actual items but I'd estimate 25). Some of these were outgrown items, but many of them were actually duplicates. We are so fortunate to have people who give us these essential winter items, but we somehow gained more than we needed for the next several years (multiple items in the current and next size). So we made some choices and gave away the things we didn't really need. We don't need to store them any more and someone else can benefit from having them.
- I worked with each of my kids this month to declutter their rooms. Combined they gave away 4 large bags of outgrown clothing (I don't count that in the challenge since clothing is always coming and going from our house), 2 large bags of toys and activities they no longer used (I forgot to count but it was at least 25 items), and 1 large bag of brand new items (approximately 20 items) that they will give to other kids (some for Christmas charity drives and some as regifts - yep we regift!). Oh and 1 bag of garbage and a bin full of recycling. Definitely overdue for a good purge in those rooms ;)
All totaled, that makes approximately 108 items decluttered in the last 2 months! Which brings my challenge total to 853 items so far. It feels so great to see those items leave our home. It feels like our home is losing weight! While I've already passed my goal of 365 items in 365 days, I'm planning to keep decluttering! There are still areas of my home that I feel are cluttered and I want to keep working on them. It is so great to be doing this challenge with all of you and sharing our progress together!
As a professional organizer, I also get to help other people declutter their homes. I love my job and decluttering is the part of it I enjoy the most. This month I've helped clients declutter garages, offices, and playrooms. And, here are some before and after pictures of a basement I helped declutter and organize.
I hope my decluttering has inspired you to look around your home with fresh eyes! It's great to declutter before the holidays because you can make room for the new stuff that will be coming into your home. I really noticed a difference last year when we started putting away all the Christmas gifts we'd received! I wrote a series last December called Decluttering for a Simpler Christmas if you'd like to read more on this.
In our Facebook group, some members are thinking more now about what they bring into their homes, especially with respect to Christmas gifts. I LOVE that! It's great to know we're not only decluttering what is in our homes now, but we're taking steps to prevent the clutter from coming back.
So, that's my decluttering journey this month! I'm so glad you're part of the 365 Items in 365 Days Declutter Challenge and I hope this post gives you some ideas of what you can purge next! If you haven't joined yet... jump in!
Are you ready to declutter?!
Remember to tell others about this challenge. They'll thank you for helping them declutter. Feel free to grab this button to spread the news if you're a blogger or have a website.
If you need any decluttering ideas to get you started or keep you going, check out my Decluttering/Purging Tips & Ideas board on Pinterest.
Plus my 31 Days of Easy Decluttering series is always in a tab at the top of the page here on the blog.
What did you declutter this month? Do you have clutter you want to purge before the holidays? Do you declutter on a daily basis? Have you joined the 365 in 365 Challenge yet?
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Here are all the posts in the 365 Items in 365 Days series:
